Topic: Wanted - Images of 75' 550 K1 speedo and tach

[DiscoEd]

Hello,
I am wondering if someone  might have good images of a speedo and tach for a 75 Cb550 that they could post or email to me.

Thank you,
DiscoEd

[csendker]

Crappy pics of the same gauge set.  Black faces.

[DiscoEd]

Hmmmm.... is that "black" set really a stock set for a 75 K1 550? Mine have green faces and the reset for the trip meter is in the back. Perhaps mine are not the correct ones.

Anyway, what I'm really looking for are some images that I can make new faces from as mine are shot.

[csendker]

I know the handlebars aren't stock, but I thought the gauges were.  At least the Title matched the odometer when I bought it.  Being a newbie to CB's I'll have to defer to the experts.  I await with baited breath...

[bistromath]

Well Ed, I made a new tach face for my '75 550F and so went through the trouble of scanning the tach, cleaning it up, and printing it out on a transparency with a wax printer. Worked pretty darn well, actually. I don't have the speedo, but here's my tach face. Should print out life-size on a 300dpi printer (I think). It's not bad. I missed the white lines in the redline area but didn't care enough to go back and put them in. The colors are all cocked up to correspond to what that stupid wax printer thought was green & red.



http://www.nerdnetworks.org/~bistromath/photos/misc/cb550f-tach.jpg

[TwoTired]

I know the handlebars aren't stock, but I thought the gauges were.  At least the Title matched the odometer when I bought it.  Being a newbie to CB's I'll have to defer to the experts.  I await with baited breath...

I don't know of any CB550's that were stock with black faces.  Dark Green, Light Green, and Dark Blue are the only ones listed in the "Honda Motorcylce Identification Guide".  For the K1, it says Dark Green.  F models have their own story.  But, I think they shared use of the same intruments.
Below is a pic of the guages on my 75 CB550 K1 parts bike.  I can't be certain they are original.  In fact, I suspect they may be wrong for the bike.  I was going to use them on my 74 Cb550 K0.  I think they belong there.

Cheers,

[csendker]

Well, they looked black.  How dark is dark green?  Enough to be misinterpreted?  I'll have to look closer when it's out in the sun next time.  Not that it really matters, but now I'm just wondering if mine are original more for the mileage than anything else.

[TwoTired]

Well, they looked black.  How dark is dark green?  Enough to be misinterpreted? 

Yours looked black to me, too.  Even the original dark green is unmistakeable, as green.

All the US Cb550 speedos had markings to 130 mph and numbers to 120.    The tach redline is supposed to be 9200 RPM.

Your dials appear to be off an 80's bike when 55 was the national speed limit. 

You might check to see if they are calibrated correctly for your bike.  Find a measured mile and check your odometer for that distance.  If it is wrong, it might explain your mileage concerns.
I wonder if your tach as the correct multiplier?  There was a discussion about that a while back.  It's different from a 750, I remember.

Cheers,

[brewbrother]

Hello,
I am wondering if someone  might have good images of a speedo and tach for a 75 Cb550 that they could post or email to me.

Thank you,
DiscoEd

These shots may not show the true color which is green. hope it helps.

[DiscoEd]

Below is a pic of the guages on my 75 CB550 K1 parts bike.  I can't be certain they are original.  In fact, I suspect they may be wrong for the bike.  I was going to use them on my 74 Cb550 K0.  I think they belong there.

Cheers,

Hey TT,
Why do you suspect that they are wrong? They sure do look very similar to what are on my 75 CB550 K1.

Regards,
DiscoEd

[DiscoEd]

Well Ed, I made a new tach face for my '75 550F and so went through the trouble of scanning the tach, cleaning it up, and printing it out on a transparency with a wax printer. Worked pretty darn well, actually. I don't have the speedo, but here's my tach face. Should print out life-size on a 300dpi printer (I think). It's not bad. I missed the white lines in the redline area but didn't care enough to go back and put them in. The colors are all cocked up to correspond to what that stupid wax printer thought was green & red.

Hi bistro,
Thank's for posting the tach image. I tried printing it out and it pretty much comes out on my color laser printer just as it appears on my screen with the weird colors. I'm sure with some tweaking it could work.
ugh! I sure was hoping for the speedo image. As it turns out I did find a good tach image in a thread that had been started by ElCheepo. So now I just need a good speedo image. I've tought about scanning mine. but it is in such bad shape that I'm not even sure that I can work with it.

Regards,
DiscoEd

[stingray]

From a 1976 CB 550

[TwoTired]

Hey TT,
Why do you suspect that they are wrong? They sure do look very similar to what are on my 75 CB550 K1.

Because, my 75 F model gauges (below) look like they do, and I'm 95% sure they are original.  I didn't think Honda would use different ones between same year models.
Also, I had another 75 K1 with very weather checked gauges faces that were the same pattern as my 75 F.
And the parts bike 75 K1 I have now, was clearly in an accident up front.  Headlight and bars have been changed.  And, there are big mangled bits in the front fender fork ears and leftmost exhaust header.  The dials are in good shape with no dents at all. 

Just little clues like that.

Cheers,

[brewbrother]

Hey TT,
Why do you suspect that they are wrong? They sure do look very similar to what are on my 75 CB550 K1.

Because, my 75 F model gauges (below) look like they do, and I'm 95% sure they are original.  I didn't think Honda would use different ones between same year models.
Also, I had another 75 K1 with very weather checked gauges faces that were the same pattern as my 75 F.
And the parts bike 75 K1 I have now, was clearly in an accident up front.  Headlight and bars have been changed.  And, there are big mangled bits in the front fender fork ears and leftmost exhaust header.  The dials are in good shape with no dents at all. 

Just little clues like that.

Cheers,

Well I'm intrigued. I see your 75 gauge cluster. I look at my gauge cluster for a 75 and it looks like stingrays 76 cluster. Did they switch in late production  or do I have a gauge cluster for a 76??

[TwoTired]

I think judging colors from these posted pics is going to be problematic. Lighting conditions camera color bias and computer screen settings will all effect the hue for the colors.

On my screen  Brewbrothers gauges look dark green (and kind of bluish).  Except for the blue, the shade of green looks correct for 75.

Stinkgrays, look like my 76 CB550F (light green).  Also, correct for that year.

My 75 gauges are all sun faded so they are lighter than what they once were, but still darker than the 76 gauges.

As for what is correct for your bike, what is the frame number?  Some bikes are tittled incorrectly with respect to Honda's model year convention.  I don't think the light gauge faces were a rolling change.  But, rather a model year differentiator.

Cheers,

[jbailey]

Green with odometer reset on the back is original for '75 550K.